Scared to tell
by Laurenty
Summary: Ezra went to Delaware to visit Malcolm. The night before he returns something happens to Aria. What happens when she tells Ezra and how will he react?
1. Chapter 1

**This is my first fanfic that I've written. I've had this idea in my mind for 2 months but I never found/had the time to write it down. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own PLL nor the characters in this story.**

* * *

**Chapter one**

Aria was sitting in her bedroom, trying to not think too much about what had just happened. She wiped away the tears that were streaming down her face and got up to go take a shower, trying to get rid of the dirty feeling. When she came back into her room she noticed one new text message from Ezra.

_Hey babe, I'll be home tomorrow. Want to have dinner at my place and catch up? Love you x_

Aria bit her lip, not sure what she should reply to him. A few minutes later she texted him back saying yes and that she loves him too.

* * *

The next day at school even though Aria tried to focus on what the teacher was telling, her mind kept wandering off to what had happened the other night. When her friends asked her why she was so absent during the day, she told them she had had a rough night and it was no big deal. After school she quickly went over to Ezra's. When he opened the door she gave him a quick kiss.

"Hey," he said "how was school today?"

"Fine," she shrugged, "just like always. How was Malcolm's karate tournament? "

"He was really good and almost got through to the finals but then he lost his battle in the semi-finals. He was a little disappointed because usually when he wins Maggie buys his a new toy car."

"Let me guess," Aria said, "to cheer him up, you bought him a new toy car and said he was the best of the day for you?"

Ezra chuckled "I may have done so, it's the first tournament that I went to and I felt bad because he wanted to win it for me." he said causing Aria to chuckle as well.

"What else did the three of you do?"

"Nothing special, we just hung around and played some ball. What did you do while I was away?"

"I, um, I helped my mom repaint her apartment and other than that I hung out with the girls." She answered him, hoping he would drop it and talk about something else. Aria went over to the couch and sat down.

"Did you already ordered food or were you waiting for me?" she asked him.

"I waited for you, what do you feel like having: Italian or Chinese?"

Aria grinned "Definitely Chinese."

While Ezra ordered dinner he looked at Aria whose was staring into space. When he had finished the call he went and sat beside Aria. She curled into his chest and he kissed her forehead.

"Are you sure everything's ok? You seem a little distracted."

"Yeah everything's fine. Why do you think something is wrong?"

"Because you've been very quiet ever since you've been here."

"It's just Spencer told me that she and her parents are having some disagreements. It's no big deal I'm sure it will blow over in a few days."

"Okay, if you say so." Ezra replied, seeing that Aria didn't really want to talk about it. "I missed you while I was away."

"It's only been three days and we spoke with each other every night."

"I still missed you" he said, leaning down to kiss Aria. Aria started laughing "Yeah I missed you too." Over the next few hours they shared more kisses and caught up on everything that had happened the past weekend. At 10 pm Aria got up from the couch and started gathering her stuff.

"You're leaving already?" Ezra asked surprised as he stood up as well.

"Yeah, I'm sorry I just remembered that I've got some homework that I have yet to finish." Aria apologized

"No, that's fine. We'll talk later?" He asked hopefully.

"I'll call you before I go to bed." She replied. She stood on her tiptoes and gave him a kiss goodbye.

"I love you." She said when they pulled apart. She kissed him one more time, picked up her stuff and started to walk toward the door.

"I love you too." Ezra replied

* * *

Once again, after another restless night, Aria couldn't stop thinking about what had happened two days before. Suddenly she felt her phone buzzing in her pocket. She pulled out her phone and saw it's a text from Ezra.

_Do you want to go to dinner somewhere tonight. Maybe we can go to movies afterwards? X_

Aria looked back up, trying not making it obvious that she was on her phone during class. She bit her lip, thinking about what she was going to reply. She wanted to have dinner somewhere in town instead of his apartment but she was scared of who she might run into.

_I'm sorry, the girls and I already made plans to hang out tonight. Rain check? x_

A few minutes later her phones buzzed again.

_Okay have fun tonight. Love you x_

Aria felt a slight pang of guilt wash through her. She hated lying to Ezra but she wasn't ready to tell him what was really going on in her life. She knew that if she agreed to go out with Ezra he would notice there was something wrong with her. He would start asking questions and he would keep checking to see if she was okay. Aria looked back at the teacher trying to focus on what he was talking about.

When Aria got home later she went up to Mike's room. She knocked and opened the door partly.

"What do you want to have for dinner tonight?" She asked Mike.

He took off his headphones and turned around to face Aria.

"What did you say?" he asked her.

Aria rolled her eyes. "I asked you what you wanted to have for dinner tonight."

"Pizza's fine for me." He told her. "Why aren't you at Ezra's?"

"Why are you asking me that?"

"Because you're more at his place than you are home."

"He has a deadline to meet so I thought I'd just stay home hang out with my little brother." She teased him.

"Oh" he replied " You know that I'm almost as tall as you are right?".

"Ha, ha" Aria replies back. "I'm going to order the pizza's. Do you want to pick some movies to watch tonight?"

Mike closed his laptop and walked towards Aria. "Okay five horror movies coming up" he joked.

Aria punched his shoulder "Uh, uh" she protested "no blood drenching movies"

"What do you want me to pick then, I'm not going to watch a bunch of romantic movies because you can't stand a little blood." Mike argued.

"A little" Aria shrieked. "You can pick two action ones but that's it!"

"Deal" Mike agreed.

* * *

The next day at school the girls all sat together during lunch, talking about what they did the other night. Hanna and Caleb went to the movies, Spencer and Toby hang out at his loft and Emily and Paige went to the same karaoke bar they went to last year.

"So Aria what did you do yesterday? Spend the night at Ezra's apartment?" Hanna asked , wiggling her eye brows.

"No, he had a deadline to meet so I just went home." Aria answered.

"So you just spent the entire evening doing what, homework?" Hanna asked again.

"No, Mike and me ordered in and we watched a couple of movies afterwards."

"Did he try to make you watch bloody horror movies again?" Emily asks.

"Yes, but once again I succeed in convincing him to watch an action instead." Aria replies with a smile. They talked about the movies for a while, when Hanna all of a sudden interrupts Spencer who was talking about a movie she had seen last week.

"Let's have a girls night, we haven't had any in weeks!"

"Hanna, I was talking about the movie that I saw last week." Spencer complained

"Who cares about some dull movie you saw? We could have mani-pedis, do each other's hair or make our own masks. Who's in?" She asked the others excitedly.

"I care Hanna" Spencer argued "And I'm in but I'll talk all about that movie tonight while doing YOUR hair. Hanna replied by rolling her eyes.

"I'm in as well" Emily replied, not wanting to get in the middle of Spencer and Hanna's argument. "What about you Aria? You've barely said anything?"

"I think I'm going to skip this one."

"Why? Do you already have plans or … ?" Spencer asked, trailing off.

"Sort of. Ezra texted me earlier that he finished his story so I was thinking of going over there."

"Okay, we'll just hang out this weekend to make up for it." Emily suggested.

"Definitely" Aria agreed but just like the day before she felt a pang of guilt going through her. Ezra had texted her earlier that he would be busy the entire night writing his story and that he would make up for it later. The truth was that she wasn't really feeling up to hanging out with the girls. She just wanted to go home, crawl in her bed, read a book and go to sleep early.

That night Aria sat in her room while reading Winesbourg, Ohio. She really wanted to leave Rosewoord for a while and forget everything that had happened. After many hours of tossing and turning around, Aria finally fell asleep.

**I hope you liked the first chapter. English is not my native language so constructive criticism is always welcome. This story is going to be a three shot and I'll try to upload the next chapter by next week.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

It's been over a week since Ezra was back from his trip to Delaware. Whenever the girls or Ezra suggested doing something Aria would come up with an excuse. Either she had plans with Ezra or the girls or she said she was going to hang out with Mike or catch up on homework. But most of the time she just sat in her room reading a book that Ezra gave or she would watch some TV with Mike. Neither the girls or Ezra made a big deal about it. They usually assumed she did have plans or that she was doing homework.

* * *

During her English class Aria felt her phone buzz, indicating a new text from Ezra.

_Malcolm is spending the weekend at my apartment. Do you want to hang out with us tonight? He really wants to see you. x_

_Sorry, I can't. I swore to Mike that I would massacre him again with playing air hockey tonight. Maybe tomorrow? x_

Ezra sighed as he read Aria's message for the fifth time. The past week Aria had bailed on him for a numerous of times. He kept thinking about what it could be that made Aria bail on him every time. He came up blank. He wanted to ask her what was going on with her but for that to happen Aria had to actually show up at his apartment.

_Promise? x_

_Yes, I promise I'll be there tomorrow. Love you x_

_See you tomorrow. Can't wait. Love you too x_

Ezra breathed a sigh of relief.

Later that evening Ezra went to Rose of Sharon to pick up some dinner. He was almost there when he bumped into someone.

"Sorry" he apologised, lifting his hand as well as a form of an apology.

"It's okay. I wasn't exactly looking where I was going either" the other person replied.

Ezra gasped when he saw who he has bumped into. "Mike? What are you doing here?" Ezra asked. 'What's going on, I thought Aria said she and Mike would be playing air hockey.' Ezra thought as he waited for Mike to reply.

"I'm on my to the park. A couple of my friends and I are going to catch up by playing ball. Why do you want to know?"

"It's just I thought Aria said something about kicking your ass again at air hockey"

"Kicking my ass at air hockey again?" Mike asked surprised, raising his eyebrow slightly.

"I think that's what she said, I asked her if she wanted to hang out at my place but she had already plans with you. Something along with brother-sister bonding. "

"No, that can't be true. Right before I left, I asked her if she had any plans tonight and she said to me that she was going over to your place."

"Oh, " Ezra said surprised "I, I probably must have misinterpreted her, sorry. Have fun with your friends tonight. I'm on my to grab dinner before Malcolm comes over. I'll see you around?"

"Yeah, see you around." Mike said and then started walking towards the park.

Ezra remained standing for a while. Aria told him she was hanging around with Mike but she told him the complete opposite. That she was going over to his place. Ezra became frustrated. He was now 100% convinced that something was going on with Aria but he just couldn't figure out what. For a while he thought that it might have something to do with her friends but as she kept telling him that she had plans with them, he didn't think anything about it. But right now as he found out she lied to both him and Mike he suddenly wondered if she had used the same excuses to bail on the girls.

Ezra mentally decided to ask Aria about it when she would be coming over the next day. He started walking again towards Rose of Sharon, picked up his food and made his way back to his apartment. As he was setting out the food when he heard a knock on the door. When he opened the door, he smiled. Malcolm was standing in front of him and he had a gift in his hands. Maggie gave him a kiss on his cheek and made him promise to be a good boy before she left her son with Ezra.

"Hey Malcolm, what do you have in your hands? Is it for me?" he asked hopefully once Malcolm stood next to the table.

"No, it's gift for Aria." he replied proudly.

Ezra pretended to be upset. "You got Aria a gift but you didn't bring one for me?"

"Yes, because Aria couldn't be at my karate tournament but you were there." Malcolm stated.

"Well, you'll have to wait until tomorrow to give it to her because she's not here right now." he explained to Malcolm.

"Oh," Malcolm sighed, "didn't she want to hang out with me and watch cartoons together?" Malcolm asked his father, thinking he was the reason why Aria wasn't there.

Ezra sensed that Malcolm was starting to blame himself. "No, she and her brother are spending some time together. She was going to beat him once again at a game and she really wanted to win. Just like you wanted at the tournament two weeks ago."

"But I didn't win, I was third." Malcolm replied sadly.

"I know Malcolm," Ezra started to explain to him, "but Aria hardly wins a game and she won the last game they played and she wanted to prove to her brother that she could win again on her own. So that's why she's not here right now. How about we ask her all about it tomorrow when she comes over? We can tease her by playing games and making sure that you or I win them instead of her?" Ezra suggested.

"Okay, I understand. But I want to choose the all the games that we play!" Malcolm said.

"Deal" Ezra agreed and they shake hands to make it "more official".

* * *

On Saturday morning Ezra and Malcolm were having breakfast when Aria walked into the apartment. Malcolm immediately ran towards her.

"ARIA!" He exclaimed. "You're finally here."

"Yes I am." She said. "And I heard that you have something for me?" Aria smiled. Ezra had sent her text the night before, after Malcolm went to bed, to say that Malcolm was upset that she wasn't there and that he had something special for her.

Malcolm nodded and ran to Ezra's bed. He lifted the covers and pulled the gift from out of its hiding place underneath Ezra's bed. He walked over towards Aria and handed it to her.

Aria carefully opens the gift and is slightly confused when she sees what's in it. A photo album with a picture of Malcolm, Ezra and Aria on the cover. She glances through the album, looking at all the photos. Some of them were taking of them playing with the train set. A couple of pages further were pictures of Malcolm during the tournament and him standing on the platform wearing a bronze medal.

"It's for when we take pictures together so we can have always remember all the funny things we did together." Malcolm explained.

"So it's also partly for me?" Ezra asked, still hoping that it's also a gift to him.

"No, it's for the two of you." Malcolm said.

"It's a really pretty gift Malcolm." Aria said. "Thank you so much. Congratulations on your third place. I'm sure that the next time you will definitely win and I'll try to be there so I can cheer for you."

"Really?" Malcolm asked, using his puppy dog eyes.

"Really." Aria agreed.

"We have to shake hands otherwise it's not official!"

"Okay, okay." Aria held out her hand so Malcolm and she could shake hands.

"Did you beat your brother last night?" Malcolm asked, remembering why Aria wasn't there yesterday.

Aria was confused for a minute, what did Malcolm mean with that? Then she remembered that she had said to Ezra that she was going to play air hockey with Mike as an excuse not to go over to his place. He probably said it to Malcolm as to explain why she wasn't there.

"Yep, I did. I've beaten him twice now so I think he now knows that I'm the best at air hockey." Aria grinned. Even though it was a lie, she wasn't going to make her look bad.

"You may have beaten Mike at air hockey," Ezra interrupted, "but that doesn't mean you're the best at everything." He shot Malcolm an smile and Malcolm smiled back at Ezra, recalling what Ezra had said to him last night about beating Aria at any game.

"Dad and I are going to proof to you that we are the best players!" Malcolm shouted excitedly.

"Is that so?" Aria asked, looking at Ezra and raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, Malcolm and I were talking about boys being better than girls at games, so we are going to proof it to you. Right Malcolm?" he asked.

"Right Dad!" Malcolm chirped in.

"Okay let's get started!" Aria exclaimed. " The first one to win 3 games is the winner and gets to pick what we'll have for dinner and who has to do the dishes."

After five different games, from playing cards to board games, the temporary score was 2 wins for Malcolm and Ezra and 1 for Aria. They kept playing games, only stopping for lunch and bathroom breaks. Just as they were about to start the sixth game, they were interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Are you expecting anyone?" Aria asked Ezra who went over to the door.

"No," he said, "Maggie isn't supposed to pick him up until tomorrow."

Ezra opened the door to reveal his brother Wesley standing on the other side.

"Wesley, come in." Ezra exclaimed causing Aria to tense, "What are you doing here, I thought you were in New York with Mom?"

"Yeah I was, but I was thinking that it has been a long time that we have actually hang out as brothers so I thought that maybe we could do something this afternoon or tonight but I see you've already got plans." Wesley pointed to Aria and Malcolm.

"Malcolm and I are proofing to Aria that boys are better at winning games then girls are." Ezra said.

"Why do you have to proof it when everyone already knows." Wesley said, shooting Aria a smile. She ignored it and began to put away the game they were about to play with Malcolm. She figured since Wesley was there they wouldn't play until after he left.

"What happened to your arm?" Ezra asked eyeing the cast on his right arm.

"I, um, I" Wesley stammered "I drank a couple of beers the other night and I tripped on my way back home and landed on my elbow."

"Why were you drinking?" Ezra asked concerned.

"Mom and I got into a fight so I went out with a couple of friends to get away from here. We went to a bar and got a few beers to drink. When we were walking back to Nathan's house when I stumbled over a stone and fell on my elbow."

"What did you tell mom? Or haven't you told her yet?" Ezra grinned, already having some kind of idea how his mom would react if she knew Wesley was drunk.

"I told her that I fell while I was out with Nathan, Liam and Justin. She doesn't have to know everything." Wesley replied with a smirk.

He went to the couch and took a seat next to Aria. Aria in response moved a little further away from Wesley, still keeping her guard up. Ezra notices the sudden change in Aria's behaviour but decides to question her about it later, after Wesley had left.

"Hey Malcolm, how was your tournament? Did you win?" Wesley asked Malcolm interestedly.

"Fine, I got third place." Malcolm replied in an irritated way. He was annoyed that Wesley showed up because he was in the lead of the game. Now that Wesley had shown up it could be a while before they could continue.

"Dad, can I play a game on your phone? I'm bored." Malcolm asked Ezra. He didn't want to listen to whatever Wesley wanted to talk about. He would rather finish the board game they were about to play when he walked in. It was one of his favourites and he was pretty sure that he was going to beat Aria and therefore proof that boys were much better than girls.

"Sure," Ezra said giving Malcolm his phone "here you go."

"Thank you!" Malcolm exclaimed. He ran towards the bed so he had all space he needed and no one could watch what he was doing over his shoulders.

Ezra and Wesley made some small talk while Malcolm played a game on Ezra's phone. Aria just sat on the couch absentmindedly playing the rings on her fingers. After half an hour Aria stood up and started to collect her stuff.

"Are you leaving already?" Ezra asked her, wondering why she would leave all of a sudden.

"Yeah, I forgot that I promised my Mom that I would help her with grading some papers so she can go on a date with Zack."

"Oh, or is it because you're scared that either Malcolm or I will win this game and therefore proof that boys are indeed better than girls?" Ezra teased Aria.

"No, I promised her yesterday after class that I would help her. And I'm not scared I was going to win this game and the one after that." Aria replied back. She stood up on her toes and kissed Ezra goodbye. "I'll let you know if I'll come back later so we can finish this game and I can proof that girls are better." Aria kissed Ezra again and then picked up her bag and put her shoes back on.

"Bye Malcolm, I'll see you later okay? Have fun with your Dad and your Uncle Wesley." Aria said as she ruffled Malcolm's hair.

"Okay, bye Aria." Malcolm said as he tried to fix his hair back to how it was before Aria messed it up.

A few hours later Mike answered the door of the Montgomery house. Hanna, Emily and Spencer were standing on the front porch.

"Hey girls, what are you doing here?" Mike asked them.

"We were looking for Aria. Is she here?" Spencer replied.

"No, she said she went over to Ezra's to hang out with him and Malcolm. "

"No, that can't be right." Emily argued, "We were just at Ezra's and he said that Aria left to go help your Mom grading some tests and that she went home afterwards because she wasn't feeling well."

"Well I haven't seen her since this morning when she left but maybe she came home and I didn't notice it." Mike suggested.

They went upstairs to Aria's bedroom but when they opened the door, the bedroom was empty.

"Where the hell is she?" Hanna shouted. "If she's not at Ezra's and she isn't here, then where did she go?"

Suddenly they heard the front door open and the four of them went back downstairs. When they got at the bottom of the stairs, Aria was in the kitchen grabbing a drink out of the fridge.

"Aria, where the hell have you been?" Spencer asked her. "We have been looking for you everywhere."

"I wanted to clear my head so I decided to go for a walk. Okay? No need to get all dramatic." Aria said, keeping her back towards the girls and Mike.

"Oh we're sorry that we were worried about you when we couldn't find you anywhere." Hanna jumped in.

"Why were you looking for me?" Aria wondered.

"We wanted to know if you wanted to join us for drinks and maybe go over to that karaoke bar that Emily went to with Paige."

"No, I'm not really feeling like it. I'm just going to bed early."

Aria started to walk towards the stairs. Trying to keep her friends from seeing her face. The moment they would see her tear strained face, they would immediately start to ask her tons of questions. Questions she didn't want to answer.

"That's fine," Emily tells her, "do you want to do something tomorrow?"

"I'm probably going back to Ezra's, we were in the middle of a game when I had to go help my mom so I think I'll head over there and finish it."

"Well, let us know if you change your mind." Spencer told Aria "Otherwise we'll see you at school on Monday."

"I'll text you." Aria said and went upstairs.

Five minutes after the girls had left Mike went over to Aria's bedroom. He knocked and entered the room when she said he could come in .

"Do you want to tell me what's really going on here?" Mike asked her.

* * *

**Thank you for all the reviews, favourites and follows, I really appreciate it. **

**In the next, and final, chapter both Mike and Ezra will find out what exactely happened. I'm not sure when I will update because I have a lot of homework in the next 10 days. Half of the chapter is already written but I don't know how much time I will have to write the other part. I will try to upload it as soon as possible. **

**Please review and tell me what you think has happened to Aria.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter three**

_Five minutes after the girls had left Mike went over to Aria's bedroom. He knocked and entered the room when she said he could come in ._

"_Do you want to tell me what's really going on here?" Mike asked her._

"Tell you what?" Aria asked carefully, fidgeting with some stuff on her desk.

"Don't play dumb, I know that there's something going on with you." Mike argued.

"There's nothing going." Aria shrugged, trying to drop the conversation. "I'm going to take a shower and go to bed early."

"No you're not. You're going to tell me why you've been acting so strange." Mike insisted.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Aria said. She went to her dresser and picked up a top and a pair of pyjama bottoms.

"I'm talking about the fact that last night when I went to the park to play some basketball with my friends, you told me that you were going over to Ezra's. But when I almost got at the park, I ran into someone. Any idea who it might have been?" Mike asked.

Aria's eyes grew a little bigger. 'He couldn't have run into Ezra, could he? Damn, I thought he would be too busy with Malcolm that he wouldn't leave his apartment.'

"I don't know Mike. One of the girls?" Aria sighed and dropped the clothing back in her dresser. She wondered why Mike couldn't just drop it and go back to his room.

"No, I ran into Ezra," Mike said as a matter of fact. "and he told me that you said to him you were hanging out with me, trying to beat me at air hockey once again even though we haven't played it in years."

"Your point is?" Aria asked as she went to sit on her bed.

"Why did you lie to both me and Ezra?"

Aria sighed, realising that she had to tell him now that she was caught. "Guess I don't have any other option but to tell you right?"

"No you haven't" Mike said. He went to take a seat on the other end of Aria's bed. " So what happened?"

"Remember two weeks ago when I went over to Ezra's to grab some of my stuff?" Aria started to tell.

"Yeah, you told dad and me you left a notebook there." Mike remembered.

"Well while I was over there something happened." Aria continued, her eyes starting to tear.

_**Flashback:**_

_While Ezra was in Delaware attending Malcolm's karate tournament, Aria went over to his place to grab another T-shirt of his for her to sleep in. When Mike had asked her where she was going, she'd said that she was going to pick up a notebook she had left behind, not wanting him to know why she was really going over there. When as Aria was leaving Wesley stumbled in._

"_Wesley," Aria asked, surprised to see him there, "what are you doing here?"_

"_My mom and I got into a fight," Wesley slurred, "so I thought I'd spent the night here since Ezra's in Delaware."_

"_Okay. I, uh, forgot my notebook here so I was coming to get it. Don't mind me, I was just leaving." Aria said. She didn't want to be alone with Wesley, especially when he was drunk. He always tried to make a move on her while he was sober, so she didn't trust him at all at the moment since he was drunk as a lord. (In this story Wesley and Aria have only talked to each other.)_

_As Aria was walking towards the door Wesley started to come on to her. _

"_Where are you going?" He asked._

"_Home." Aria replied bluntly._

"_Why? Don't you want to stay here?"_

"_No, Wesley I don't want to stay here. I need to go home, my dad is expecting me to be home." Aria said. She noticed that Wesley had started to come closer to her and she was starting to feel trapped._

"_But I don't want you leave. Wesley said as he closed the space between him and Aria. He pushed and pinned her to the wall while kissing her. _

"_Wesley stop" Aria cried, trying to push him off of her but she failed as Wesley was much stronger than her. _

_He took both of her hands in his left and pinned them above her head. His right hand caressed her cheek while he was sucking on Aria's neck. Wesley's hand slid from her cheek down Aria's body towards the hem of her shirt and Aria started shaking more. Tears kept running down Aria's cheeks as she tried to fight Wesley. _

"_Wesley, I need to go home. Please let me go." Aria begged but Wesley didn't respond._

_When Wesley loosened his grip on Aria's hands to lift her shirt Aria managed to kick Wesley in the stomach with her knee. He loosened his grip completely and clenched his stomach. As soon as Aria felt that Wesley's grip on her hands had loosened, she pushed him off completely. Wesley stumbled backwards and fell to the floor landing on his elbow. Aria quickly picked up her stuff and ran home leaving Wesley groaning in pain behind._

_**End of flashback**_

By the time that Aria had finished telling Mike what had happened, she was sobbing uncontrollably. Mike had come over and sat next to Aria. He pulled her closer to him an wrapped his arms around her.

"Ssh Aria," Mike soothed, "everything's going to be okay."

"No, it's not Mike." Aria whimpered, "What if he's going to try it again?"

"He won't Aria, I promise you"

"You don't know that. Earlier today while I was at Ezra's he showed up and acted like nothing happened. He sat beside me but way too close and I was starting to feel trapped. I actually thought that he would try to do something again when Ezra wasn't looking." Aria said as she brushed her tears away.

"But he didn't try anything right?" Mike asked, needing to be sure.

"No, but that's because I left after half an hour."

"I think you should tell Ezra, he has to know what his brother did."

"Mike, I can't." Aria cried, wiping the few tears that started to fall from her eyes, "I'm not ready to tell him yet."

"Aria," Mike argued, "you can't just not tell him because you're scared you'll run into Wesley or he will try something again. If you won't tell him I will"

"No Mike please?" Aria begged as tears started to run down her cheeks again. "Don't say anything to Ezra. I'll tell him when I'm ready."

"Okay, and when is that?"

"I don't know." Aria mumbled.

"Why don't you want him to know that his own brother tried to rape you?"

"Because he has a lot on his mind already and I don't want him to constantly worry about me."

"And you don't think that he's worried about you now?"

"Can we just drop this? I'm tired and I want to go to bed." Aria said as she brushed away the tears with the sleeve of her shirt.

"I'll drop this if you promise me you're going to tell Ezra." Mike insisted.

"Mike …" Aria sighed but before she could finish her sentence Mike interrupted her.

"Or else I will to go his apartment and tell him myself." He threatened.

"Fine, I promise I will tell him." Aria gave in. "But I get to decide when and you don't say anything to him in the meantime."

"Okay, I won't tell him" Mike agreed, "but only because I know that you won't stop until I promise not to say anything."

"Thanks Mike." Aria sniffled, giving him a small smile.

"Do you want me to there when you do tell Ezra?" Mike suggested as he wiped away a few dried up tears.

Aria nodded "Yes, please. I don't think I can tell him without someone there for moral support."

Mike leaned over and gave Aria a big hug. "I swear if I ever run into Wesley, I'll kick his ass." He said, trying to cheer her up.

"Do you even know what he looks like?" Aria asked, smiling a little.

"I'm guessing he looks like Ezra seeing as they are brothers." Mike grinned.

Aria chuckled. "I starting to get tired. Do you mind leaving? I haven't slept well in the past two weeks."

"No problem" Mike said, giving Aria another hug. "Good night sis."

"Good night Mike" Aria replied.

* * *

"Morning Mike" Aria said to Mike when she walked into the kitchen.

"Morning. How are you feeling? Did you sleep well?" He asked her.

"I'm fine Mike and I've slept like a baby." Aria lied. She didn't want Mike asking her how she was the entire day. Truths was she had woken up a dozen of times during the night. The image of Wesley pining her to the wall, his hands sliding to the hem of her shirt flashing through her mind.

Mike gave her a strange look, he wasn't really sure whether or not to believe Aria.

"Anything special you want to do today?" Mike asked. "Actually beat me in a game instead of making it up?"

"Ha ha" Aria fake laughed. "We both know that the last time we played air hockey I won."

"Well why don't you choose a couple of videogames after breakfast and we will settle this once and for all." Mike suggests.

"All right! Let's do this."

The rest of the day Mike and Aria actually spent some time together and having some brother-sister bonding like Aria always claimed she was doing while she was actually sitting in her room. Now and then, Mike asked Aria how she was doing and if she wanted to tell Ezra. Every time Aria said that she was fine or that she wasn't ready.

"Mike could you please stop asking me if I want to tell Ezra." Aria said annoyed. "I promised you that I would tell him on my terms meaning when I'm ready." It was after the fifth time he had asked her and it started to annoy her.

"I don't get why it's so hard to tell him. It's more likely that he'll be mad at Wesley than he'll be mad at you."

"Can we just finish this game? If not I've got better things to do like hanging out with the girls or something else." Aria complained.

"How about we make a deal. We play all those games you picked and the winner gets to decide when you'll tell Ezra?" Mike proposed.

"What's in it for me if I win?" Aria asked.

"You win and I'll stop asking questions and I won't bother you anymore about it."

"And if you win I'll have to tell Ezra, right?" Aria asked already knowing what his answer would be.

"Yes, tomorrow after school." Mike replied.

"What, why tomorrow?"

"Because otherwise you'll keep putting it off." Mike grinned. "What is it, scared you're going to lose?"

"No, I just don't want you to be depressed when I beat you."

"Oh it is on" Mike said reaching for the console.

When they got to the final game, it was Aria's turn to pick one. She decided to choose a tennis game, hoping that she still remembered some tricks to win the game. As the game went on, the scores moved up equally. It was Aria's turn to serve for the match point. Two minutes later the winner was known.

"Guess I'll see you after school tomorrow huh?" Mike beamed with happiness.

"Yeah, yeah. We'll see." Aria shrugged.

"Oh no! You agreed that if I won, you'd tell Ezra. Well I won so you're telling Ezra once school is over." Mike said.

"Fine, I'll tell him. I'm going to bed, all these games wore me out." Aria said.

"Someone is a sore loser." Mike teased.

"Good night Mike." Aria replied.

"Night Aria."

* * *

The next morning Mike made sure that Aria was still on with telling Ezra the truth after school. Aria said that she was and the both went to school. When Aria got to her locker, the girls were already waiting for her.

"Hey Aria," Spencer greeted her, "are you okay? What happened on Saturday? We never heard back from you."

"Oh, it's nothing." Aria shrugged "I kind of talked with Mike about it."

"Did you end up going to Ezra's?" Emily asked.

"No, Mike and I decided to figure out for once and all who the best is at videogames so we ended playing videogames the entire day."

"Did you win?" Hanna asked.

"No" Aria mumbled.

"Anything we can do to cheer you up?" Emily asked, right as the bell rang. The girls all went to their English class. Aria pulled her phone out of her bag and decided to text Ezra.

_Can I come over to your place after school? There's something I've got to tell you. x_

A few minutes later Ezra texted her back saying he would be waiting for her.

Once school was over Aria walked to the front entrance where she saw Mike waiting for her. They went over to his apartment but before they went in Mike told her that he was there for her. When they entered the apartment Aria gasped and tensed immediately as she saw Wesley sitting on the couch. Mike squeezed Aria's hand for moral support and moved a bit so he stood in front of Aria.

"What are you doing here?" he asked Wesley, trying to control the urge to punch him.

"Ezra had to go pick something up, he said he wouldn't be gone too long." Wesley replied, shooting Aria a quick smile. "I just stopped by to catch up with my brother. We haven't talked to each other in a while."

There was an awkward moment between the three. Soon after Ezra walked in and is surprised to see Mike.

"Hey babe, sorry I had an errand to run." He said to her. Aria stood on her toes and gave him a quick peck.

"It's okay."

"Oh hey Mike, Aria didn't tell me you were coming over as well. Is everything okay?"

Before Mike could reply Aria interrupted him.

"I need to talk to you." She whispered to him.

"What is it?" He whispered back.

"Alone." She whispered while pointing to Wesley with her eyes.

"Okay, I understand." He kissed her front head. "Wesley do you mind if we catch up another time. I forgot that Aria and I made plans tonight."

"Sure, no problem." Wesley replied. He picked up his jacket and gave Aria another smile. Aria and Ezra took a seat on the couch and Mike sat on one of the opposite chairs.

"What is it that you wanted to tell me?" Ezra asked Aria and then he looked at Mike. He didn't understand why Wesley had to leave but why Mike could stay.

Aria eyes were starting to get teary when she thought about how she would tell him that his brother came on to her, kissed her and then tried to rape. Mike flashed her a smile and started telling him what Aria had told him on Saturday night. While Mike was telling Ezra the story Aria started sobbing harder and harder and leaned into Ezra's chest. When Mike was finished, Ezra stood up from the couch.

"Dammit!" He said frustrated, "This is all my fault."

"No, Ezra it isn't your fault." Aria said sniffling.

"Yes it is!" He shouted while shaking his head. "If I wasn't in Delaware, nothing of this would have happened!"

"Ezra …" Aria started to reason with him but he interrupted her.

"No Aria, I wasn't here when you needed me so it's my fault." He pulled her up from the couch and in for a hug and cradled her face.

"I'll always be here for you, you know that right? You don't have to be afraid to tell me anything." He whispered to her. "Is that what why you left so suddenly on Saturday? Because Wesley was here?" he asked her while wiping away the tears that were still running down her cheeks. Aria nodded her head.

"Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"I was scared. I thought you'd be mad at me or something." Aria offered weakly.

"Why would I be mad at you. You didn't do anything wrong. God I'm going to beat the living daylights out of him." Ezra exclaimed. "How long have you know Mike? " Ezra asked him, having forgotten that he was sitting across from him.

"Since Saturday." He replied. "The girls came over looking for Aria. I told them she was at your place but they said that they had just went to your place and Aria wasn't there and you had said that Aria went home. We went to her room to check but she wasn't there either. Then we heard her walking in and after the girls left, I confronted her about it. As it was the second time that she bailed on one of us while saying she's hanging out with the other I figured that something was up." He explained to Ezra.

Ezra faces Aria "I was planning on asking you what was going on with you on Saturday after Wesley left but …" he trailed off.

"I left before you had the chance." Aria finished his sentence.

"Hey Ezra," Mike interrupted "next time Wesley shows up here and you want to beat him, please call me. I would be glad to help. No one gets away with trying to her my little sister."

"Do I have to remind you that I'm older as you?" Aria said to him.

"I meant literally." Mike teased back, pushing his tongue towards her face.

Aria punched his shoulder "Just shut up! Okay?"

The tree of them spent some more time at Ezra's place. Aria showed Mike the photo album that Malcolm gave her. Ezra and Mike agreed if Malcolm wanted to, Mike could teach him the basis of lacrosse.

* * *

**Once again thank you for all the reviews, follows and favorites! **

**I decided to make Mike the person Aria would tell what happened because I love the brother/sister bond they have in the show and I'm really happy that Mike will be back in Season 4.**

**I hope you all liked this story. If you want to follow me on Twitter, my username is Twinkle_Lauren. Whenever I come up with another story I will post the link on it.**

**Please review**


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